Diet at Rain Forest:
Prepared chinchilla diet supplemented with root crops such as carrots, fresh
greens, and the occasional sweet potato.
The chinchillas at RainForest Adventures are kept on a bedding of edible hay,
which is often a favorite of the animals to eat for roughage.

Keepers Notes: Known
for their incredibly soft fur, the wild chinchilla was hunted to near extinction
through most of its natural range. To compound
the problem, the chinchilla was never really found in large numbers to begin with,
since the climate is so harsh in it's native range.

Both in the wild and in captivity the
chinchilla needs a bath, it is not the kind of bath you and I think of, it is a
dust bath. Chinchilla fur rarely gets wet in the wild, the arid high
elevations that the animal calls home rarely see rain. Instead of water
the animal bathes with the fine, dry dust found on the ground. A
chinchilla will literally roll around in the dust which acts as a magnet to help
collect particles of skin oil, dirt and debris that has collected on the
extremely fine hairs of the rodent. Much like a wet dog, the chinchilla
will literally shake off the dust that it has just bathed in and by doing so
literally shed off the oil and dirt particles. It is quite a sight to
behold to watch an animal roll around in dust and literally get "cleaner"
looking.

The chinchillas at RainForest bathe in
a super fine volcanic dust.

Chinchillas can live up to 20 years in
captivity, while the wild chinchilla is thought to live between 10-15 years.

Size:.
1-2 pounds, approximately the size of a small rabbit. Males and females
are generally the same size with males being slightly larger.

Status in Wild: Small pockets of wild chinchillas have been found to
be existing in extremely remote regions of the Andes Mountain Chain.
Almost hunted to extinction, the wild chinchilla received protection in the early
20th century and has since been able to rebound in remote regions.

The female chinchilla will allow her baby to
stay near for protection for nearly three months.

Baby Chinchillas will fit in the palm of your hand.
The average litter of babies born to a female is 2-3.

This close-up of a male chinchilla shows the large ears
that help the animals keep a sharp lookout for potential predators.
Natural predators of the wild chinchilla include birds of prey as well as
cat species endemic to their natural range.

For biological classification purposes the Chinchillas are classified in
the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Rodentia,
family Chinchillidae.